


Even The Darkness Has Arms (But It Ain't Got You)

by Foxipaw



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Brace yourselves, CatCo Skating Crew, F/F, F/M, Kara and Lena are both gay disasters, Kara is a golden retriever puppy, Lena gets to have friends, Lena is a Secret Badass, M/M, Oops, Skateboarding AU, Slowish burn?, Super Skating Crew, Surprise Angst, but what else is new, gonna be a long fic, not too slow?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-03 17:48:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14001342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxipaw/pseuds/Foxipaw
Summary: Sam talks Lena into learning how to longboard because, in her words, the girl needs to "live a little." When she drags Lena to a weekend event in the small town of Midvale, Lena hardly expects to bump into a charming blonde who's more than happy to give her a few tips. A freak accident lands them in the same hospital room, and their paths are intertwined for good. She's along for the ride as Sam is swept up with the Supers Skating Crew, while Lena has to learn how to balance both her job and her newfound family, and maybe just balance in general because whoever knew skateboarding would be this hard?A re-work of my Clexa fic 'Pain Told Love' revived into a new fandom with a lot of extra goodies packed inside! Title from 'Even the Darkness Has Arms' by the Barr Brothers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for leaping into another fic with me! It's my first published work in a while, so I might be a bit rusty. Bear with me, it will get better! I do not currently have an update schedule in mind, suffice to say that I have at least five chapters written and I'm no where close to even a quarter of the way through my outline of things I want to accomplish in this fic, so hopefully it will be a long one.
> 
> As mentioned in the summary, this is a reworking of one of my unfinished Clexa fics (which was also originally in First Person POV) so if you notice any discrepancies please let me know and I will get those fixed. I always love hearing your comments and questions, so feel free to drop by and chat or find me on Tumblr @foxipaw
> 
> Thank you lovelies, and enjoy! <3

Sam's words echoed in her mind, _Come on Lena, live a little._ Lena scowled. Her friend had a long history of trying to push her beyond her usual restrictive bubble and this was certainly no exception. A word in her mother's ear and these monstrosities would probably be tossed in a wood chipper. This was one of the rare moments Lena was glad she had finished college before Sam did, or this whole pushing-limits thing would have gotten way out of hand a lot earlier. Lena's balance shifted and she pitched to one side, arms flying wide in a dramatic attempt to steady herself.

“Sam, this is a really bad idea!”

Her friend scoffed, gliding along in front of her, zigging back and forth to make up for Lena's crushingly slow pace. Sam had told her all about her board the day it had arrived in the mail, the brand and trucks and wheels and bearings and all sorts of other terms Lena only vaguely understood due to her general knowledge of engineering. All Lena really cared about was that it had green wheels and that its deck was made from sustainable eco-friendly lumber. She and Sam had peppered its underside with stickers, and it even featured a tiny sharpie phallus drawn by their third musketeer, Imra.

“It's a fantastic idea, thank you. I mean, look at how hot I am on this board? Think of all the gorgeous women you'll meet.” She rolled past, stance relaxed and hands on her hips, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to her. Lena simmered. She was unaccustomed to being anything less than perfectly capable in whatever she pursued, but even she could admit physical activity had never been her strongest suit.

Well. No one could ever accuse Lena Luthor of backing away from a challenge.

Lena's brother had raced competitively once upon a time, even if he had only picked it up for the same reason Lena had. (To irritate her mother, obviously, even if she was maybe too afraid to tell her just yet.) Although Lillian never permitted Lena to attend his competitions, she knew Lex had been frustratingly adept and after obtaining a few sponsorships Lillian had the audacity to be _proud_ of him. Lena was not so foolish as to think she would receive the same treatment of course, but when Sam friend had taken an interest in it a few months ago Lena had dug out his old boards for her to practice on. Now, naturally, she was dragging Lena into it as well.

“Tell me again how your mother is taking all of this?” Sam asked with a laugh.

“You and I both know she has nothing to do with this, and unless you want to watch your precious baby there succumb to a fiery demise, she never will.” At least not until Lena could do better than flounder.

Lena would indulge herself privately in fantasies of winning a race, pulling off her helmet at the last moment to see her mother's gobsmacked face just beyond the finish line, but only because Lillian Luthor would sneer at anything less than perfection. Lena certainly wasn't there yet, and at this rate she probably never would be.

Sam just laughed. “Ooh, _scary_. Don't get pissy with me just because you're frustrated, Luthor.” She looped around Lena, doubling back.

Lena couldn't see her, but she heard the rubber of Sam's shoe sole skidding against the asphalt as she came up beside her. It had taken a while, but they'd worked out a system. Sam rolled along next to her, ready to catch her while she tried to stop herself. As usual, Lena fumbled and pitched forward off the board.

Her friend's quick footwork was all that kept her own board from sailing down the street all on its lonesome. “This is never gonna work,” Lena sighed, out of breath and frustrated.

Sam shrugged. “You're too tense, you gotta relax.” Lena shot her a look. “I know, I know. Not your forte.” Sam kicked her own board into the grass so she could stand on Lena's without having to worry about where hers might end up. “Look at where my feet are, and look at my knees. Keep your shoulders relaxed and centered over the board. Your balance will come to you once you get comfortable.”

Lena opted for pouting instead of responding.

“Or would princess rather call it quits and go back home?”

Fire prickled at the nape of her neck and Lena glared. The taller girl just cackled and darted back to her own board before Lena could get her hands on her. She started back down the street, leaving Lena floundering in her wake.

  
  


\- - - - Three Weeks Later - - - -

  
  


Sam was able to talk her into a lot, okay? It had been like this ever since they were young. The other girl always had her back flipping off of swing sets and eating weird things and saying words she didn't understand, but if someone had told Lena a year ago that Sam would be able to talk her into getting up at four in the morning and driving two hours north to watch a bunch of other people skate she would have called them insane. Never in a million years, not since Lex went off the deep end, but there they sat in the other's girls jeep. Lena clutched a thermos of coffee and a huddled beneath a quilt gracelessly draped around her shoulders.

“Are you going to glare at me the whole way there?”

Lena said nothing. The glaring continued.

“Have some fun for _once_!”

“I have fun!” She had fun watching documentaries, and drawing up blueprints, and designing prototypes for whatever struck her fancy. It just wasn't Sam's definition of fun, that's all.

The glaring ceased, but only because she turned to stare out the window instead. The sun was lightening the sky in the east, but it would be a while yet before it crested the foothills. Sam had been rambling on about the different racers and their boards and their sponsors and who she thought would win. Lena did her best to ignore her.

Okay, she was probably just grumpy because she was tired. In truth, Lena's riding had improved by leaps and bounds thanks to dogged perseverance and an absolute intolerance for shabby performance, but she still trailed behind Sam. Her friend was considering signing up for a novice level race here in a few weeks, and Lena still wasn't sure whether she should encourage her or try to talk some sense into her thick skull. She was hoping seeing a few good wipeouts today might help her friend get her head back on straight, which she claimed was the whole reason she'd agreed to go.

“We should find you a girlfriend,” Sam said. Whether she'd just blurted it out or had been rambling for a while, Lena wasn't sure, but it certainly got her attention.

Lena jumped, and her head whipped to the side.

“Why do you keep joking about that? It's been like, two months now Sam. It was cute at first, now it's getting weird.”

The brunette gasped as if she'd been offended. “You dare doubt my gaydar?”

Lena said nothing, trying to go back to ignoring her.

“You wouldn't kiss Anna Kendrick?”

Lena frowned.

“Or Lucy Lawless or that white haired girl in Game of Thrones?”

“Emilia Clarke.”

“Whatever! The fact that you know just proves my point” Sam sighed, feigning exasperation.

“You've watched all seven seasons, you _ought_ to know the names-”

“There's like a billion of them!”

They descended into an argument over how the new season was going to turn out and the injustice of having to wait an entire year, which carried them over the city limits into Midvale. It looked like what would normally be a quaint, quiet little town by the sea. Lena counted three different antique shops on Main Street alone, and there was more than one neon colored poster board tacked to a telephone poles that proclaimed, “Farmer's Market, This Way!” Lena assume that it was normally a sleepy little place full of old people and and dog walkers and Republicans.

Today it was crawling with dirty, tattooed, noisy young adults and teenagers. Most of them were men of varying ages, but there were plenty of tanned and tattooed girls intermixed. They walked in pods down the sidewalks and lounged on benches. The streets were filled with them, bobbing in and out of cars, much to the dismay of the drivers, if the blaring horns were anything to go by. They passed a park which had been filled to the very fringes with tents and campers. Banners and advertisements hung wherever there was a flat surface to stick them to, including shop fronts and between buildings and even on the dozens of food carts which had overtaken one street in particular.

“Holy shit,” she murmured.

“Checking out that blonde with all the tats? Me too.”

Lena punched her friends shoulder. “No, I mean holy shit. There's so many people!”

“I told you this race was huge!”

Sure she had, but up until now Lena hadn't really believe anyone in the world other than Sam and Lex even knew what a longboard was. Their own boards peeked out the back window of the Jeep, but Lena was officially mortified to even try standing on hers. Surrounded by all these actual skaters, she'd probably make an ass of herself within twenty seconds maximum.

“Where are we even going?”

“No idea. I'm just trying to find somewhere to park...”

Half an hour later Lena's feet hit the concrete. It was unseasonably warm for spring, already seventy degrees and sunny. She was glad for the hoodie wrapped around her hips when the wind blew, but for now her tank top was feeling heavenly. She took a moment to enjoy the warmth on her skin after another cold National City winter.

Sam took a look at the watch on her wrist and grumbled. “Your lazy ass made us late, the first heat is about to start.”

“Lazy?! It's seven in the morning!” Lena was positively scandalized, but Sam just hauled their boards out of the back, tossed them to the ground and took off towards where the crowd was headed.

Lena's stomach dropped into the soles of her feet, but she tried her best to keep up all the same. Fear trilled through her, tingly and warm, as she struggled to weave in and out of the other skaters and walkers. It was nothing short of a miracle that she made it down the base of a road which Sam claimed wound back up to a lookout point. That was apparently where the race would start.

There was a stage and platform waiting for them, and a projector displayed live footage of the riders lining up at the top. An announcer was rattling off facts about each of them, which Lena didn't pay much attention to until she heard one woman call out an age. _Twelve_. Lena looked up at the monitor and her jaw dropped when she realized that the people inside those sleek racing suits and underneath those helmets were just kids.

“I wanted you to see these runs more than the others. That's what we had to come so early.” Sam shot her a cheshire grin.

Lena heard the airhorn through the speakers loud and clear, and then heard it for real a moment later and much fainter from wherever the starting line was farther uphill. The race had started.

The kids pushed off furiously for a few paces before letting the hill take them. They ducked into aerodynamic positions and boy did they fly. Lena's hands came up to her mouth, horrified that one of them was going to crash. Where the hell were their parents?! Who had let this happen? Three had pulled ahead of the rest but not by much, the leader of which wore a mostly blue and red with a splash of yellow, complete with matching helmet. The pack whipped around a corner and it looked like he was about to down. Lena thought surely he had made a mistake but only his palm hit the ground and his feet stayed planted on the board. The sound of plastic scraping stone rang out through the speakers, and as he came through the turned he popped right back up.

Again and again they turned, jostling for position, until finally the sound of their approach became very real. Lena turned her head just as they appeared. She yelled with the rest of the crowd as the pack crossed the finish line. The boy in blue and red who had led the entire race was pronounced the winner. When he pulled it off he revealed a mop of shaggy black hair and a beaming smile. He was lost in the crowd...

Lena turned to Sam, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. “That was amazing!”

Her friend gave her a shit eating grin.

“Oh, shut up! Seriously, that was cool, why haven't you shown me any of this?”

“I was hoping you'd actually get interested and start looking into it yourself but after it became painfully obvious that you were just humoring me, I figured drastic action was necessary.”

Sam led her away. She explained that what they had just watched was the first heat of many, a series of qualifiers which would culminate in final races later in the day and into tomorrow. The youth races would go on until about noon, then the Novice Open, then the Novice Women's, and so on until the brackets were down to the finalists. And yes, they could absolutely come back and watch the other kids race, but the food trucks were starting to open up and both of them were hungry.

One of the food trucks actually specialized in breakfast foods so Lena opted for that one, all while crowing about what a wonderful day and age they lived in where such things existed. She ordered some sort of special, a waffled piled with a fried egg, bacon, grated cheese, and chives, and it was probably the greatest thing she'd ever consumed if only because she was indulging herself beyond the strictly healthy regimen Lillian forced her into at home. True to Sam's word, they returned to the stage to watch the next few events. Finally the announcer called out that there would be a half hour intermission while the next class of riders set up, and Sam seemed to feel like their time would be better spent hanging with some of the free riders who'd come to see the event.

“Or we just went back to the car and took a nap. Doesn't that sound better?”

“Christ, you and your sleep.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Eight hours of rest is important to ensure that the body is-”

“They won't bite. And trust me, if you say you just started learning they'll be all over you like stink on-”

Lena interrupted, “Okay, thank you, I get it.” Only, that didn't sound much better.

Sam found a parking at the edge of town where some kind of shopping center had been shut down. The ground was peppered with pebbles and cracks that seemed daunting to Lena, but it had been taken over by boarders all the same. People of all shapes and sizes and ages whizzed past them. On guy called out to them, accent Australian or maybe from New Zealand, and whistled.

Lena only sat on her board and watched as Sam worked on what she called 'dancing' she moved across the top of her board (more or less) gracefully, stepping from side to side, causing the board to weave from left to right. Every now and then when she was feeling brave she would twirl or turn backwards. She claimed that her board wasn't really the best suited for it and that she ought to have one much longer, but it would do for now. Lena did her best to act unimpressed.

Eventually Sam came to a stop in front of her, kicking her boarding up into her hand. “C'mon, even after everything you just watched you won't even get on your board?”

“I will eventually! I'm just... warming up my warm up, is all.”

Sam flipped her the bird.

A tall, dark skinned man who looked to be about twenty rolled up, only this one did not call out some sort of profanity just to disappear again. He slid to a stop, and was soon joined by another. His companion was shorter, and if Lena was being perfectly honest, looked a little closer to 'nerd' than 'punk.'. The first grinned. “Nice dancing. How long you been riding?”

Sam looked him over. “Thanks, and about six months. You?”

“Couple of years. Hey, how'd you do that one turn, when you swept out your back leg and caught it with the front?”

Sam launched into a lesson, and sometime over the course of it, the first man was introduced as James and his nerd-ish friend was apparently named Winn. Winn tried to follow along for a bit but it became pretty obvious that dancing wasn't exactly in his skill range yet, so he took a seat on the curb next to Lena. He offered her a handshake instead of a fist bump, and Lena decided at once that she liked him.

“You new to riding too?”

She smiled. “What gave it away?”

Winn laughed and rubbed the back of his head as color flooded his cheeks. “Sorry! I don't want to assume things, it's just _I'm_ super terrible at everything still, and being here is kind of overwhelming you know? All of my friends are really awesome and I'm trying to keep up with them, but seeing someone who's not skating is like 'Whoa, I wonder why' and I didn't mean anything by it-”

Lena cut off his panicked rambling with a laugh which surprised both of them. “It's okay, no offense taken. And I understand what you mean by the whole 'overwhelming' thing. That one,” she said, pointing at Sam, “dragged me here against my will.”

Sam let out an indignant “Hey!” obviously having heard her.

Winn laughed. “Same. Sort of. I do all the technical tuning for my crews boards, so _against my will_ might be some strong verbiage but I get what you mean.”

Lena's brows shot up. “Really? Like what?”

Winn launched into a long speech about boards and types of wood and the number of layers which made one ply better or worse than another for their various reasons, the hardness of wheels and the right type of suits, and Lena was surprised to find herself listening with rapt attention to all of it and even offering comments when she felt confident enough to do so.

All of the sudden Winn looked at his phone and bolted upright. “ _Shit_ , I was supposed to be at the trailer ten minutes ago to prep Alex's board, they're all going to _kill_ me. Oh god, I'm a dead man.” He whirled back towards Lena. “Thanks for letting me ramble about gear and specs but if I don't bolt I'm going to painfully dismembered, I gotta go!” He called out a hasty goodbye to James and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Lena staring after him.

She looked back to see Sam and James working on something totally different than dancing, not that she had any idea what it was. Her stomach growled and she called out, “Hey Sam! It's past one, do you want to grab some lunch?”

Her friend froze and a guilty look plastered itself on it's face. “Er, sure, but could we wait like half an hour? We've almost got this trick down and I just-”

Lena tried not to feel disgruntled, but she didn't do a very good job. Still, she said, “Oh, no, don't worry about it. I'll just,” she struggled to stand, “Uh, go grab something. Text me if I should find you somewhere other than here?”

Sam looked between her and James. “Are you sure? Just a few more minutes and we can-”

Lena held up a hand, stropping her friend mid sentence and forcing herself to smile. “No, seriously. I'll be right back.”

Sam frowned but nodded.

Lena tuckered her board under her arm and set off back towards the stage. She really was starving, but she only had a few dollars left in cash and after a few minutes of fruitless searching discovered none of the food stands accept her card. _Damn American Express,_ she grumbled to herself. She walked over a street to see if maybe she could find something better, or at least cheaper, but this town was so small it only had one run down looking Taco Bell and a few diners that had actually chosen to _close_ due to the event. Lena was surprised they didn't board up their windows as well. Judging by the ever-present smell of weed in the air she'd probably end up spending the next hour of her life in the Taco Bell line so she crossed off that option as well.

Instead she ended up in a small patch of asphalt that was tucked away between an old warehouse and a minimart, entirely blocked from view and a few streets away from where most of the skaters had congregated. She was surprised at first to see she was the only one there, but she guessed that at events like these skating in secret wasn't really on the agenda for most people. Her hunger forgotten Lena dropped her board and looked over her shoulder. No one was there.

Eventually she lost track of time.

Maybe it was silly compared to what most of those racers were doing, but Lena always had the most fun on her board when she could just cruise. Weaving back and forth was like floating on air, and she would never admit it to Sam but she could see what her friend liked about this so much. She didn't realize that a smile had blossomed on her face and if she had she would have been damn glad the other girl wasn't around to see it. The other girl would never let her live it down, because she had yet to admit that she liked longboarding. Mostly it was just to drive her friend insane, but in truth a small part of her still wasn't really sure.

She'd never been athletic in her entire life, not in a single thing. When it came time to pick teams in gym class, she never made the top ranks. It didn't help that in school all of the kids had been afraid to so much as toss a ball in her general direction after that year Lex was beaned with a baseball and their mother had sued the kids parents. Her hand eye coordination was alright, but if it required moving too? Count her out. Sam made it look so graceful, Lena had been sure she'd never be able to manage. But skating alone, just cruising along, she felt airborne.

The nape of her neck tingled, and she looked up to find someone watching her.

A girl was propped up against the warehouse's red brick wall. Blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves and she wore black joggers and a baggy white tee. A flannel was sweatshirt was tied around her waist as well. Lena could see her left arm was entirely overtaken by a sleeve tattoo, and there was the tip of another one poking out on her right. She wore aviators to keep out the harsh sunlight, and Lena willed them away so she could see just what the stranger was looking at. Lean skidded to a graceless stop.

“Sorry, didn't mean to, uh...” She trailed off.

“Oh. Oh! No, it's fine, er... Can I help you?” The air was filled with a thick, awkward tension.

The other girl shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants. “Well, you're kind of in my spot.”

Lena's brows scrunched together, confused. “Is this private property? I'm sorry, I just wanted to-”

The other girl held up her hands and laughed nervously. “No, hey, sorry! It was a joke. Is this your first year here?”

Lena nodded, and blushed. “Is it really that obvious?” First Winn, now this stranger? She must have been worse than she thought.

“No, not at all,” the other girl was quick to say. She seemed to collect herself, standing taller. She kicked up her heel and for the first time, Lena noticed she had a board with her. “Its kind of tradition that I skate here. This'll be my eleventh year competing, so most regulars know me, and most visitors don't stray so far from the entertainment. I've never seen anyone here, so I was just surprised. It's totally cool though! No need to bounce on my account.”

She had walked closer and closer during her speech, and for a moment Lena felt dizzy. She could admit the girl was gorgeous and she couldn't even see her eyes yet, which was another thought she was certainly glad Sam wasn't privy to. It was a long moment before the Lena realized she probably ought to say something back. “Shit, eleven years?”

She winced as the profanity slipped out, but the other girl laughed. She held out a hand, looking to shake. “I'm Kara Danvers. I race for the Supers.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting the rest of the 'The Intro' today so I can get into the meat of the story from now on! Or, the one where Lena regrets having friends but makes a good impression anyways.

“Shit, eleven years?”

She winced as the profanity slipped out, but the other girl laughed. She held out a hand, looking to shake. “I'm Kara Danvers. I race for the Supers.”

Lena laughed and shook her hand. It was calloused and warm. “I'm Lena Luthor.” Lena cringed ever so slightly as her last name slipped out all on its own, but Kara didn't seem to take much notice. Lena recovered quickly by carrying on, “My jerk friend Sam has been trying to teach me to skate. She brought me here to ' _inspire_ ' me,” she said, complete with air quote.

“Well, you certainly don't look like a novice,” the girl commented, voice neutral and light, but still Lena blushed.

She forced a laugh and brushed it off. “Nah, I pretty much suck, it's okay to say it.”

“I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it.” Her voice was weighted with confidence, and it took Lena aback for a moment, along with taking the breath from her lungs. She wasn't sure how to respond, and Kara probably knew it. “Although... Would you take some advice on your stance?”

Lena grinned. “Sure.”

  


\- - - - -

  


Kara laughed as Lena recounted the day she'd come home to find Sam and two longboards waiting for her, and the trials and tribulations she'd faced ever since. The two girls were rolling aimlessly around the lot, and had been for quite some time. Lena was having trouble making sharper turns, and it wasn't long before Kara realized that part of the reason was her own confidence issues with her balance. But if you got her talking... Well, Lena had been cruising without issue for almost half an hour now and Kara wasn't even sure she'd noticed.

In fact, not long after Lena gasped and skidded to a sudden stop. Kara, startled by the girl's reaction, slid to a stop as well.

“Shit,” Lena said.

Her voice was low and intense. “What's wrong?”

Lena's cheeks colored again. “Uh, well,” she coughed. “Sorry, it's just that I told Sam I was gonna grab some food and be right back and now-” she patted her pockets and groaned. “And my cellphone is in my hoodie I the parking lot where I left it. Shit.”

Kara laughed, seemingly relieved that it wasn't a more dire situation. “Well, do you remember where you were?”

Lena looked back towards Main Street, mostly obscured by the buildings between them, and frowned. “Well... Vaguely.”

Kara frowned. “I could ride back with you if you like? Wouldn't want you to get lost, and I know this town like the deck of my board. I grew up here.” She cracked a small grin, and Lena's stomach filled with the same damn butterflies that she trickled in when she first noticed she was being watched. She was going to have to do something about that.

“Really? Huh. And thank you, but you really don't have to. I'm sure you've got other things-”

“It's fine.” She smiled again, wider this time, and how could Lena say no to that?

They set out towards the stage, cruising through the crowd with ease and Lena didn't even think twice about it. She was too lost in the fact that this strange, kind girl looked even better on that board than Sam did. Unfortunately, when they finally found their way back to where Lena had left her friend, the girl was gone. And so was her freaking hoodie.

“Oh, _hell_ no.” Lena was not about to play the world's most epic game of hide and seek with her ex-best friend. Granted, it was mostly her fault for wandering off and, granted, they both should have known better, but still.

“So either your friend is block of asphalt or...” Kara trailed off.

“Yeah, she's gone.” Lena puffed out her cheeks, and let out a low, irritated breath. “Well. Thanks for getting me back here at least. I'll figured something out.”

Kara raised a brow. “I can leave if you want, but this probably isn't the crowd you want to be wandering through alone.” She shoved her hands in her pockets once again, probably trying for neutrality but giving herself away with a gentle smile. What was with this girl? Strangers were not this kind, and they _certainly_ weren't this kind to Luthors unless they wanted something.

“You really don't have to,” Lena said again. “I mean, having a personal bodyguard is nice and all, but I only keep those around for family events.”

Kara's brows darted skyward, seeming confused. “Yeah?”

Lena winced at a joke that would have landed with Sam, but obviously wouldn't click with a total stranger. This girl seemed to have transferred Lena's mental balance down to her feet, because upstairs was a jumble of mixed thoughts and words she was trying very hard not to blurt out.

“Sorry, I'm bad at...” Well, she was going to say 'talking to strangers' but that wasn't necessarily true. Lena was exceptional at conversing with people she had never met at a moment's notice. She had been doing it all her life at her parents fundraisers and galas, but apparently the skill did not extend to pretty blondes with ink. She made a vague hand gesture, which she pretended was not directed as an all encompassing gesture at Kara, and finished with a lame, “Humor?”

Kara laughed, and Lena was relieved to see that it didn't seem as if the other woman was laughing _at_ her, but with her instead. “Don't worry, I don't know how to 'people' either. Mostly I just ramble until my sister shuts me up.”

They began to move through the crowd, making small talk as they went. Lena was happy for the conversation to distract her, because she was kind of starting to freak out a little. Sam was no where to be found. They even went all the way back to the Jeep, and still there was no sign of her. By the time they'd made their way back to the main stage, she was starting to just plain panic. It seemed like Kara was moments away from calling the cops for her sake, when Lena spotted a familiar figure in the crowd and lunged for him.

“James!” She grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

He seemed more than surprised to see her, and nearly fell backwards. “Woah! Easy there, what's up?”

“Where the hell is Sam?”

He seemed flummoxed. “She... Went to get ready for the race.”

“What? Where?” Lena was unimpressed by his lack of immediate information.

Kara waved at James, beaming at the man. He smiled and waved back, though he certainly seemed surprised. “Oh! Hey Kara. How do you... Do you two know each other?”

Lena's gaze snapped between the two. Kara gave the guy a warm greeting, then startled when she noticed Lena's blatant confusion. “Oh! Lena, this is James Olsen, his team is stationed out of National City too, so we train together most of the time.”

“We met earlier, he was skating with Sam,” Lena said, flummoxed by the coincidence and incredibly frustrated. Kara's earlier comment that this wasn't exactly the crowd you should be wandering by yourself in was definitely not sitting well with her. “And now I have no idea where she is or what happened to her!”

James must have heard the fire in her voice because he answered quickly, lifting his hands up in a placating gesture and maybe even leaning away from her just the tiniest bit. “The top of the hill, the Open Novice race? The last heat had a few people drop out so she stepped in. It's supposed start here soon.”

“What! She doesn't even have any gear or gloves or _anything_!”

James shrugged, now taking a full step back from the tiny dark-haired fury. “Look, don't know what to tell you, dude. She seemed set on it.”

Over the loudspeakers the announcer called out for the racers to line up, and Lena stared up at the screens in horror. What on Earth had her friend gotten herself into?

  


\- - - - - - - -

  


Lena watched the monitor in slack-jawed horror. It took her a long moment to pick Sam out in the line of other racers. She had somehow, _somehow_ , pieced together a suit of street armor, and for that at least Lena was grateful. There was not a doubt in her mind that if push came to shove, Sam would have still flown down the slope without it. She was a full head shorter than most of her competition, and Lena realized at once that every other competitor was a man and that most of them were elbowing one another and casting sideways glances at her. Lena simmered.

She supposed it didn't really matter too much. According to her minimal research and Sam's lectures, downhill was about balance, aerodynamics, and control. She said that once you had a connection with your board, once you understood the way it “spoke to you” riding was really just a short and intense conversation with a good friend. It was oddly poetic for the same girl she'd seen toss back twenty-six buffalo wings in just five minutes. But still.

The airhorn blared through the loud speakers, and they were off.

Sam's gear was mismatched. Her blue jacket proudly proclaimed a different set of sponsors than her white pants, but her skid gloves were lime green and in an objective sort of way they suited her. She ducked down into a more streamlined pose as the track fell away into the first slope. Lena wanted to cover her eyes but she couldn't look away. Kara was an ever present anchor to reality standing there next to her, but Lena was certain that through her eyes she looked pale and rigid and panicked. Kara took a step closer and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, I think-”

Sam whipped around the first corner, dropping down into a slide so smooth Lena was too impressed for a moment to be angry, but it certainly didn't last long. An agonizing minute later they were halfway down the course, Sam was in second place, and the announcer was having a hay day.

“I couldn't have seen it coming, ladies and gentlemen,” he crowed. “Number Fourteen, our last minute addition wearing borrowed gear, a rookie by every definition of the word, has passed Maxwell Lord and is coming hot into the last turn. Better slow down fourteen, this last one is a doozy!”

  


Lena's jaw was aching with the tension of her grinding teeth, and her palms stung from where her nails were digging in. She would not notice the half moon scabs until later. They came around the final turn, still too far up the course to be seen, but Lena heard the roar of the crowd lining the sides of the course growing louder and louder. On the screen a slender man in a slate grey road suit tucked down, gaining a last burst of speed, then stepped sharply on the right side of the board and swerved in front of Sam, cutting her off.

“What the _fuck_!” Lena screamed aghast, though it was lost in the wails of the crowd, who were as into this competition as she was... Of course, for them it was love of the sport instead of abject horror.

Sam recoiled, and overcorrected. She wiggled dangerously on her board and nearly ran off the narrow path and into the foliage. Lena stepped forward ready to bound over the hay bales lining the course, but Kara's hand around her arm that kept her in place. The first line of racers rounded the last corner and came into sight at last, but Sam wasn't with them. The cameras switched their view to the finish line, and Lena lost sight of her.

Lena's stomach clenched with fear. Where was she? Lena swore to herself that not even Kara grip was going to be enough to hold her in place much longer, but then a moment later Sam came cruising into sight. She was no longer racing, having found herself at the back of the pack.

To Lena's surprise and apparently Sam's as well, the crowd surged forward to meet her. Lena got plenty of dirty look as she elbowed her way to the front at last, but they could fucking _fight_ her for all she cared. When Lena finally got to her, she took her by the shoulders and shook her vigorously.

“I am gonna _kill_ you!”

She looked as pissed as Lena was, but of course for a completely different reason. “Where's that Lord dick? I'm gonna break his freakin' knee caps, I swear-”

Lena shook her again. “Sam. How could you do that to me?”

“Relax Lena,” she sighed. “Look at me, I'm fine. And besides, it's not like you were there to stop me.”

Lena flushed, still utterly overwhelmed with guilt and fear. “Well, I was with-” She gasped, and whirled. Kara was no where to be seen. The crowd swarmed in around them, and several journalists even asked Sam for an interview.

Lena turned to look over her shoulder, eyes scanning the crowd for the blonde she'd accidentally spent the afternoon with. Her stomach twinged, a pit formed at Kara's sudden absence. Looking back, Sam was surrounded by a few reporters and several others she had been racing against, smiling and shaking hands and laughing.

“Hey!” Lena called out over them. With family like hers projecting a dominant tone was a skill she'd learned long ago. They flinched, and turned, but Lena ignored all of them but Sam. “I'm pissed at you, and very hungry. So unless you want me to spray paint your board glittery pink and cover it with My Little Pony stickers, one of you will point me in the direction of the first fried food stand you see.” _Or a tall blonde with tattoos and a shy smile._

With a guilty smile and a litany of half hearted apologies, Sam led her away.

  


Storms rolled in not long after Sam's race concluded. They were able to run one last heat of Open Expert runs before they closed the course. It was announced that the competition would continue first thing tomorrow, weather pending. Sam and her newly made friends invited them both to crash at their camp site, if they wanted to of course. They only had one tent, but Barry drove a pickup and had a spare air mattress. Sam, proving herself better than any boyscout Lena had ever met, rustled up one cozy little suite with only a tarp and a few feet of rope later, mattress nestled snug in the tailgate. Lena would have preferred a hotel room, but she supposed that would do for a night.

A pop-up pavilion was set up over the low fire, and once Barry and his friends began roasting hot dogs under its protection. She and Sam sat among them as if they had known them all their lives instead of just over the past few hours, which was exceptionally strange for Lena but Sam seemed perfectly at home. Barry introduced them to his girlfriend Iris and his teammates Oliver and Sara, along with a girl named Leslie that Lena did not think she was going to get on with very well.

Luckily she didn't feel much like talking. If she seemed distracted, no one mentioned it for a good long while. Sam and Barry began to bicker good-naturedly once more about the race, and Lena did her best to ignore them. The evening had grown into a deep, rich dusk thanks to the rain. Fog hung close to the ground and the sparse foliage, and the light of dozens of fires filled its haze with a ruddy glow. Sitting there seemed almost otherworldly, and Lena was surprised to find herself suddenly and strongly missing Kara. Kara would like this, Lena decided, she would probably like these people too. She had told her a bit about her favorite authors, the finesse of Tolstoy, the grit of Twain, the subtlety of Steinbeck. This was a night from within one of those books, and Lena hoped wherever she was, she was enjoying it too.

“Hellooo, Earth Lena, come in Lena.” Sam waved a hand in front of her face and she swatted it away.

“Ugh, what?” Lena was less than pleased to be broken from her reverie.

Sam snorted, “Jeez, rude. Barry asked if you were feeling okay.”

Lena sighed and forced myself to relax, flashing Sam's new friend a guilty smile. “Sorry, just distracted. I'm fine though, really.”

“Does it have anything to do with why you just up and disappeared for three hours today?” Sam said it in a way that made Lena picture her sitting in a pompous office chair, the sort her mother preferred, sipping a cup of tea. She had one brow quirked.

Lena's face wrinkled in displeasure, annoyed yet unsurprised at her best friend's ability to essentially read her mind. She had been dealing with that shit for years and Sam wasn't getting any worse at it. “I met someone who gave me a lesson, we talked for a while.”

“Oooh, Lena's got a boyfriend,” Barry teased, and Iris swatted his arm.

Lena sniffed. “Actually, it was a girl.” She did her best to ignore Sam's broad grin just barely visible from the corner of her eyes.

“Even better,” he crowed. Lena threw a marshmallow at him, and soon the whole thing was forgotten as the others began chucking there marshmallows as well.

Lena spent the rest of her night thinking about the day, and trying to remember what had happened up at the stage. Kara had disappeared but in all the madness it was really Lena who been swept away. Sam must have heard her plaintive sigh as they lay there on the air mattress, cuddled against the nighttime cold. The crickets were honestly loud enough that she didn't worry about the boys hearing us.

“I'm just kicking myself. I never thanked that other skater for the help she gave me.”

“Help with what, outing you?”

Lena smacked her on the leg and the other hissed, scooting away, then scooting right back when she felt how cold her side of the mattress had become. “That's what I thought,” Lena muttered, and then with a bit more clarity added, “No, you jerk. When are you going to drop that? Between you and Imra it's like I've got my own pair of demonic little cherubs following me around telling me to sin.”

Sam scoffed. “Okay, _first_ , we both know you're not even remotely religious.” Lena rolled her eyes. “Next, Cherubs are little angel babies, not demons-”

“Whatever.”

“And lastly... Well, Imra may have bet me that you'll come out to her first.”

Lena couldn't even be horrified, because she wasn't even surprised. “So not only are you two _that_ sure that I'm gay, you two decided to harass me about it as if that would possibly make anything better?”

Sam winced, and she was right to do so because Lena really wanted to slap her for real this time, but instead she deflated. It was a sigh of legendary proportions as she sank back into the mattress, and Lena could feel Sam trying to decide if it was a trick or not. “Well, whatever, okay? Who knows. But I seriously can't get this girl out of my head.”

Sam gasped. “Good enough! I'll take questioning as a victory! Imra owes be twenty big ones, but more importantly, we've gotta find this girl. You think she was a serious skater?”

“She said she'd been coming to the same place to practice for eleven years.”

Suddenly Sam's hands were on her shoulders and she was being shaken. “She's gotta be pro for sure then, that means she's probably sticking around for tomorrow's race!”

Lena's head rattled and spun even after the shaking stopped.

“What if she practices in the same place tomorrow? Maybe you'll run into her again!”

Lena pushed her hands away and grumbled, “That's kinda creepy, Sam.”

“Look, do you wanna see her again or not?”

Whether Lena agreed or not, Sam took it as if she had. Their conversation faded, and both girls settled down into the mattress and listened to the sounds of bugs and the restless campers around them. Plenty of young guys were still up around their camp fires partying, but neither paid much attention. Instead Lena lay there unable to stop thinking about her day, and that if she had wound up in that lot trying to get away from everyone else, what could have made a young Kara do the same thing?

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, thankfully, did not start at dawn. Barry and Oliver had still gotten up early to fine tune their boards and get a feel for the competition, with only mild insults every now and then from Sam, who still wasn't totally over losing in the way that she had. The food carts started firing up around nine and Sam bought the same waffle monstrosity they had the morning before.

Lena's stomach churned with nerves, which made it more than difficult to eat. Her waffle sat their, cold on its plate mostly untouched. Sam's glares were enough to tell her that she'd noticed, but she kept it to herself until their new friends had rolled off to do some practice runs.

“You okay there, kid?”

“You are a _month_ older than me... And honestly I don't know.”

She raised a brow. “Don't tell me Lena Luthor is bailing?”

Lena looked at the fire pit instead of at her.

“Come on, she could be your dream girl!”

“Sam, I don't even know her. We hung out for an afternoon, I'm not gonna go chase her down like some kind of creep. She was cool, alright? Maybe we ought to just leave it at that. Besides, I don't have a dream girl, or a dream anything.” She left it unsaid that a Luthor dreaming of love or even anything close to it was ridiculous in the first place. She stood up and walked back to the truck so that she wouldn't have to see the judgement or pity or whatever else might be waiting in Sam's eyes. Lena quickly fished a small pocket knife out of her bag, slipping it into her back pocket with Kara's warnings from yesterday still fresh in her head, just in case.

Neither said anything more about her, and they didn't go back to the parking lot, either.

Instead they found Barry Iris, and Oliver in front of the little strip mall, and this time Lena smiled a little more often and even laughed at one of Barry's lame jokes, but Sam kept giving her the same knowing look that Lena chose to ignore. Iris claimed they had a secret skate spot farther inside the park, which turned out to be a bag of bud that Barry had hidden at the bottom of his backpack.

They spent the rest of the morning wandering the paved paths through the small forest, gliding along on their boards. The storms last night had given way to a beautiful blue sky, and had made the air humid and rich with the smells of spring. Birds cried out overhead, warning others of our coming, and up ahead Sam held her arms out wide to embrace the wind. Lena got lost in the way that the sunlight dappled across her arms. She had almost convinced herself the she'd forgotten about Kara until she realized her friend's tanned skin actually reminded her of someone else.

Just after noon Lena heard the announcer call out the Finals for the junior division would be starting in three minutes. Remembering her excitement from yesterday, Lena grinned and asked to go watch. The others agreed with a laugh and they wedged ourselves in place right behind the rope which kept morons out of the road. Lena craned her neck around so she could see the monitor behind them.

The airhorn blew. Lena was quick to spot the same boy who'd won the first race, sporting the same blue, red, and yellow racing suit. It was obvious that this was a tougher crowd. He pulled ahead for a few moments but by the time they fell into the first turn he was midway in the pack. If Lena thought the first race was stressful, it had nothing on this one. Once again she brought her hands up to her face, covering her mouth. She could barely breathe and wondered why she thought this was a good idea in the first place.

The boy in blue had pulled ahead by barely a board length as they came into the last turn Lena swiveled, watching in live time as he came in hard around the last bend. He ducked into it, but came up wiggling. He crouched in a desperate attempt to gain stability but his board shot out sideways from underneath him. He flew sideways, hitting the ground with a sicking thud and an audible crack.

Two other racers crashed when his board tried to run under theirs, but they rolled right back up as if they were made of rubber. The lead boy had been tossed to our side, which was lucky for everyone, because Lena darted out into the street without thinking about who might be coming down in between, and before any of her friends with better sense could grab and stop her. He wasn't moving.

Her knees hit the ground hard beside him and Sam was beside her in an instant. “Give me some room!” Lena said to everyone but her. She found herself obtusely grateful that Lillian had pressured her to take pre-med alongside her engineering program, and grateful too that placing at the top of her classes gave her the confidence to deal with what she saw before her.

Barry, Iris, and Oliver were quick to start shoving people back. Lena knew better than to try and get his helmet off with the likelihood of a neck injury, so instead she gently lifted the visor to at least give him some fresh air. Below her the boy groaned and whimpered, and saw that his black curls were soaked with sweat. _Well,_ she thought. _At least he's conscious_. He grabbed at his arm and what Lena saw made her stomach threaten to upend. His forearm was twisted at a terrible angle and although it had not broken through the tough material of his suit there was certainly something protruding beneath the fabric. She knew a compound fracture when she saw one.

“Sam, call in one of the ambulances. Compound fracture, shock, possible head and spinal injuries. Tell them an off duty EMT is on the scene but with minimal supplies.” Lena knew she'd leave out the part where she had let her certification lapse last year. “Barry!” Lena was in business mode, no nonsense mode, and Lena supposed that, yeah, it was probably a little startling when she called out his name like a General in a war room. He turned so quickly it looked as if he got whiplash.

“Y-yeah?”

“Get one of the event staff, have them contact the parks main office and tell them to send someone with their medical emergency first aid kit. I'll need more than what I've got here.” There was an ambulance waiting on scene, but Lena remembered seeing them yesterday near the entrance, not anywhere near the stage. Lena cursed the poor planning, unsure of who might get there first. She pulled her knife from her back pocket and began gingerly but purposefully sawing through the fabric of the boy's suit.

Barry whipped out his phone.

“Hey,” She whispered to the kid, trying to keep him still and calm while help arrived. He was in shock, and she knew she would have to be careful not to move him too much, but if that really was a compound fracture under this road suit she desperately needed to get make sure the bleeding was under control. “You with me, kid? What's your name?”

He mumbled, and Lena knew she wasn't gonna get anything out of him.

“Stay with me, kid. I'm cutting the sleeve off your jacket, okay?” Lena turned and saw the lights of an ambulance flashing at the bottom of the hill, trying to fight their way through the crowd. You'd think with an event like this they'd have planned for something more convenient, but heaven forbid they get tire tracks on the nice green lawn!

Lena made quick work of the sleeve. If she jostled him too much he certainly didn't seem to be in a place to realize. His head lolled, and Lena realized he'd lost consciousness.

“Shit,” she said under her breath.

When the fabric was pulled away, Lena realized that her guess was correct. Gasps from the crowd told her that the peeping Toms also recognized the white bone poking through the skin of arm.

“Clark!” A new voice called out. Lena looked up to see two people rushing towards them. One was a dark skinned man who looks over forty, and the other a young woman with short red hair, perhaps only a few years older than Lena herself. They dropped to the ground beside him and reached out.

“Careful! I can't tell if there's any damage to his neck or spine, try not to move him.”

The older woman pulled her hands back like she'd been stung, then turned her burning eyes towards Lena who was too absorbed in her task to care. Lena shrugged off her sweatshirt and without a thought ripped off the sleeve. She cut a rough strip of fabric just long enough to serve as a tourniquet and positioned just above the boy's elbow. It was an ugly break and was bleeding much more profusely than Lena was comfortable with. Hopefully the tie would not have to be in place long.

“He's in shock right now, but he should gain consciousness again soon. Are you his legal guardians?” In this day in age, who knew?

Only the younger woman shook her head. “Adopted cousin. Long story.”

“Good enough. You'll be able to ride with him in the ambulance.”

She nodded again, her face pale and grave, having just gotten a good look at his injuries. “Will he be alright?”

“Thanks to this helmet? Probably. But that arm will take a long time to heal, he won't be racing again for a while. Expect physical therapy afterwards too.”

The older woman sighed and nodded, her face filled with worry. “Thank you...?”

“Lena. Lena Luthor.”

Something lit up in both sets of eyes and they shared a quick look, but before anything more could be said the paramedics arrived. Lena was swept back into the moment, answering their questions as she helped them quickly and safely load Clark onto their stretcher. Lena raced with them down the hill, along with his cousin-of-sorts who's name she still didn't know. When they loaded up one of the men claimed they were short handed thanks to a knife fight that had broken out just before Clark's fall, and could use the assistance if she would ride along. Lena finally chose to tell them with a rueful smile that she was no longer certified and didn't really want to risk a lawsuit.

His jaw dropped, but the other woman said, “Get your ass in here,” so she did.

“Where are we headed?” Lena asked the second medic while placing an IV in the boy's arm.

“St. Mary's,” was his clipped response. She liked this guy. Lena sent Sam a quick text once Clark was stabilized, but was quickly pulled back into Q and A by the paramedics. Lena didn't think the boy's cousin took her eyes off of her even once the whole damn ride.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha OOPS look at me getting impatient and posting a new chapter already. Oh well, as always let me know in the comments what you thought! Reader input helps me decide where to take this story, so I always love to hear from you guys. Enjoy! <3

**Sam Arias – 12:42PM**

Okay seriously Luthor, what the hell?

 

**Lena Luthor – 12:44PM**

He's stable, but I'm gonna hang around

and make sure everything's okay.

**Lena Luthor – 12:45PM**

And to make sure I don't get sued.

 

**Sam Arias – 12:47PM**

We're not gonna talk about how you

just up and rode off into the sunset with

complete strangers? AGAIN?

 

**Lena Luthor – 12:58PM**

It was a medical emergency!!

  
  


**Sam Arias – 1:01PM**

I'm so changing your name in my phone

  
  


**Lena Loser – 1:12PM**

???

 

\- - - - - - - - - -

 

Lena was sitting alone in Clark's room, and yes, it did feel a little weird. His cousin, who's name she'd finally learned was Alex after asking three separate times, had disappeared down the hallway to find better cell reception. The fact that Lena could text and she couldn't seemed to irk her somehow. Lena wasn't exactly sad to see her go. It wasn't that Lena expected fountains of gratitude, but this woman seemed almost peeved that she had saved her cousin from bleeding out on the asphalt. Go figure.

Unfortunately that meant that Lena was left wondering what she ought to do now. So what, this kid wakes up to a total stranger? It probably wasn't her best plan, but all the same she sat glued to her chair, keeping a careful eye on the monitor that displayed his vitals. Sam had given her until the last race of the day before she came and found a way to, quote, “kidnap your ass right back.” Lena sighed and put her phone away. The door to Clark's room creaked open and Lena expected to find Alex, or perhaps a nurse, standing in it's opening.

Instead, she found Kara.

The blonde came up short, stumbling a bit when she also recognized who was sitting there. Lena, in turn, blinked three times in a desperate bid to refocus her eyes, certain that the stress of her last two days had left her hallucinating. She had very nearly chalked it up to wishful thinking until the other girl spoke.

“Oh,” Kara said quietly, her voice soft with blatant surprise, but she smiled anyways. “Hi.” Lena secretly hoped her brain was _also_ short circuiting, but somehow she doubted it.

Lena stood up quickly. “Hey! Uhm, sorry, I mean... This is weird.” The words vomited out all on their own and on the inside she cringed. So much for being articulate and collected. Lillian would have a fit if she ever heard Lena babble that way.

“Maybe a little,” Kara replied, smile somehow growing wider and warmer. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a grey shirt with the sleeves cut off, and what appeared to be a black sports bra underneath. Around her waist she'd tied a blue-and-burgundy button up. Lena tried to think about absolutely anything else. Like the injured child in the room, perhaps. She gestured to where Clark lay sleeping peacefully on the bed.

“I was the first responder after his crash,” She explained quickly, trying convey that she wasn't just some creep or stalker. “And the ambulance that was staffing the event was short handed because of another incident, so they asked me to come along.”

“You're a doctor?” Kara asked, perplexed.

The tension began to melt away as Lena found her stride, forcing herself to relax and speak like a sane person. “I was an EMT for two years,” She clarified, trying to keep the sadness out of her smile. She'd enjoyed the work, despite the circumstances. “When I was going to college I took pre-med courses with my bio-engineering degree to help with the R&D side of things so it was a good way to make money.” A good way to make money without having to take part in the family business. Until Lex went and lost it, of course, and Lena stopped feeling like she was able to save anyone after all.

With wide eyes, Kara crossed the room and sat in Alex's chair. “Holy _shit_ , Lena. So you must be like, super smart then, right? You don't look old enough to even be done with college.”

Lena fidgeted and Kara opened her mouth as if she was about to launch into some sort of apology, so Lena was quick to head her off with a small smile of her own. “You could say so, yeah. I got my GED at twelve, graduated with a degree in business at fourteen and finished my masters course in Bioengineering by eighteen. I'm twenty-one now though.”

Kara sat with an open mouth, and Lena thought privately that it was the first time she had ever seen the bubbly woman without something to say.

“So, that's my side,” Lena said, feeling awkward under the scrutiny though she ought to be well used to it by now. For the hundredth time she cursed Kara's ability to throw her off balance so easily. “You're here because...?”

“Clark is my cousin,” Kara said, snapping out of her trance. “Which means I ought to be thanking you for saving his life. If there's anything I can ever do to repay you, just name it.”

Lena felt her traitorous cheeks flood with heat and she waved away the weight of Kara's words. “I didn't save his life, I just made things a little bit easier for the paramedics. Does that mean Alex is the sister you mentioned yesterday?”

If Lena was deflecting, Kara didn't seem to notice or mind. Her face brightened even further (although Lena didn't think that should even be medically possible) at the mention of her sister. Lena could tell immediately that Kara adored her, especially if just talking about her brought such a joyful smile to her face.

“Yeah! Well, I mean, the Danvers adopted Clark and I when I was thirteen and he was just a baby, but they're absolutely amazing and Alex is the best sister anyone could ask for. When she texted me that Clark had been in an accident I was halfway across the park doing some practice runs. I deadass sprinted to the course, but by the time I was there I guess the ambulance had already taken you guys away.” Kara chuckled, scratching the back of her head as if still embarrassed by the memory of it.

Lena nodded to herself, quickly trying to figure out the odds of having to run into so many of Kara's friends and family in just two days. “Your sister seems... a little intense,” Lena confessed with a small laugh. “Not that I blame her! I mean, if I'd ever seen my brother with an injury like that I would definitely freak out too.”

Kara laughed again, which brought an end to Lena's apologetic tirade. “Was she a brat? Sorry, I'm sure she pieced everything together after all of the things I told her yesterday-”

Kara's jaw snapped shut, and apparently now it was her turn to blush. Lena's brows drew together and she quirked her head to the side, about to ask her if she was feeling alright when Kara quickly picked back up, talking a mile a minute.

“Gosh, that sounds super weird, it's not like I was _talking_ talking about you, I just told her I met this girl named Lena and we skated for a while and that you lost Sam and I sort of helped you find her and that I felt really bad about leaving but with my race up next I had to bounce, and I asked her to help try and find you so I could apologize, you know? Because that's like super rude, but Alex is like a detective and she got on my case about-”

Lena tipped her head back and started laughing, only because Kara's increasingly flustered attitude was objectively hilarious. Her face continued to grow ever redder and the more animated she became, the more she started talking with her hands. Lena knew Kara's next words probably would have been to the tune of 'On my case about your family' but Lena was surprised to find that for once she didn't care. And more importantly Kara didn't seem to care either.

“ _Kara_!” She exclaimed, waving her hands and trying to recapture her attention. “It's okay, really. That explains a lot, actually. She was probably just as thrown as I've been to keep bumping into people in your circle.” She offered a soft smile, which seemed to ease the flustered blonde a bit.

Kara beamed back. “It _is_ pretty weird.”

When Alex finally came back to the room she found Kara and Lena taking turns playing 'Don't Touch the White Tile' on her phone, and laughing as Kara tapped her way past two thousand. Lena was rightfully freaking out, but Kara had her game face on and didn't even notice. Alex took in the scene slowly before turning around and walking right back out again.

Clark, thoroughly medicated, slept on. Around six a doctor came in and said that he wouldn't be surprised if Clark slept through the night, what with the trauma he'd suffered and the medication they had him on. Lena sighed and chewed her lip. She supposed she didn't have to stick around to see him through, and it would probably be weirder if she did, but just like yesterday her time with Kara was flying by.

Eventually Kara got to talking about her family again, all without asking Lena a thing about hers. She told Lena that even though Clark was her cousin, he felt more like a brother to her and she had more or less raised him. Both of their parents had died in the same car crash, and even though the Danvers had originally just wanted to adopt a girl near Alex's age, after hearing that it would mean separating Kara and Clark they agreed in a heartbeat to adopt him as well. Kara swore she could never do enough in her entire life to thank them for helping her keep what was left of her family together, and even though she missed her parents every day, Eliza and Jeremiah were amazing parents too.

“It was the worst time in my life, but we were lucky enough to end up in a good place, you know?” Kara said, her voice soft and insightful. “Alex took up skating in high school, and I was quick to follow her. We met J'onn at an event and he ended up signing all three of us on, though at the time Clark wasn't really part of the team. More like a water boy,” she said with a blinding smile that left Lena's heart in her throat. “He definitely grew into it though.”

“How does that work, exactly?” Lena asked, blushing a bit. She couldn't stand feeling uneducated no matter what the subject was. Being the smartest person in any given room would do that to you, she supposed. She was quickly coming to realize that skating was going to be a bit of a learning curve.

Kara didn't miss a beat. “It's pretty simple. If a company likes the way you ride, think you'd be a good spokesperson for their brand, they'll reach out. More often, people apply. If you get sponsored sometimes you get cash but most just send you gear, clothes, boards and stuff like that. With Super Racing, J'onn and his people make boards and downhill suits and are pretty well known for hosting awesome events all over the world. Our team is small, but we don't need a lot of riders if we always show up on the leaderboards.” She shot Lena a wolfish grin.

Lena politely asked her stomach to chill.

“Your friend is good, by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“Sam. She's good. Even J'onn said so, and that was before he knew it was her first race, too. You should have her get ahold of him, they might have something to talk about.”

Lena smiled on Sam's behalf. “I'll have to tell her over the phone, just to be safe.” Lord knows she could get a bit overly excited sometimes...

Kara smiled and shrugged. “We're down a rider right now anyways, and she could cream any sort of novice competition I think, especially with some formal training and J'onn keeps us in line. Honestly Maxwell Lord is the worst sort of rider, he downclasses to make himself feel better about his shit skills, but likes to act like he's all that anyways. I'd love to see them go up against each other again.”

She was so nonchalant about it, about everything. Kara lounged in her chair as if she didn't have a care in the world, languid and relaxed. Lena was taken away by the ease she seemed to feel in the world and was at once jealous and impressed by it, seeing as it was something Lena had fought to replicate her entire life. Or at least since she was four. Kara must have noticed her staring and raised a brow.

“Sorry,” she laughed, and ran a hand through her hair. “I was just back to thinking about what a weird coincidence this has all been.” _Lies_.

Kara smiled again in the same blinding way that left Lena considering making an appointment with a cardiologist, and seemed about to reply when Lena's phone began to buzz. Fetching it, Lena saw that she had fourteen texts waiting for her. She groaned and began scrolling through them, all from Sam except for one concerned text from Barry. Lena hoped Sam would forgive her when she told her what she'd been up to and a potential sponsor who apparently had her eye on her, but at the moment she was waiting outside in the front lot.

“Sam is here, I gotta get going if I'm gonna make it home tonight.” Lena looked up and smiled sadly. “Tell Clark 'Get well soon' for me?”

Kara pulled out her own phone and handed it over. “Put in your number, you can tell him yourself. Like I said, we're stationed in National City. Maybe you, Sam and I could meet back up some time?”

Lean smiled, and cursed herself for blushing again for what had to be the hundredth time as she typed her number in. Sam's teasing words reared up in her mind, but Lena chose not to think about that conversation until she absolutely had to have it again. Maybe, Lena was a little more into girls than she thought, but she had a hard time imagining anyone resisting Kara's magnetism. All the same, Lena forced those thoughts and feelings down and forced reality to take their place. She was a Luthor, and if Kara was smart she wouldn't come within ten feet of her after this weekend ended. Lena promised herself that she would get Sam a conversation with this J'onn fellow, but that would have to be the end of it. For Kara's sake, and for hers.

Lena told herself she was overthinking the warm look in Kara's eyes as she handed the phone back over. She was just being friendly towards the person who had more or less saved her cousin's life, and the way Kara's fingers lingered on hers when she handed the phone back over meant absolutely nothing. Lena gave her a small wave and fled from the hospital room.

Sam was never gonna believe this.

  
  


\- - - - - - - - - -

  
  


“Seriously, you can't just run off like that, Lena!”

“Sam, it was a medical-”

“If you say the word 'emergency' one more time I swear to Taco Bell, I'm going to swerve us into a tree.”

“No, you will not.”

Lena thunked her head back against the seat. She had to admit that a quick and sudden end sounded a lot better than figuring out how to tell Sam that she thought she really liked this girl. Also the whole 'Owner of a professional team wants to have a business chat with you' thing, but she wanted to let Sam vent all the mad mojo out before switching the tune of things, or Sam would accuse her of trying to change the subject. Which, admittedly, is exactly what she would be doing.

Lena was well accustomed to long rants about how her behavior was unacceptable, how she had let someone down, blah blah blah. She knew Sam would never want to emulate Lena's mother, but it was a parallel her mind created whether she willed it to or not. Lena closed her eyes and decided to wait until Sam finished.

Her friend must have felt the shift in her mood, because after a beat of silence Lena heard a sigh. “Look. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make you feel like shit, I was just really worried about you.”

“Payback for yesterday,” Lena murmured.

Sam sucked in a breath, likely to start arguing again, but instead let it blow out between her lips. “That's probably fair.”

“Besides, I haven't told you the best part yet.”

The car jerked a bit as Sam's head whipped sideways. “What do you mean?”

Lena let the silence stretch for a moment, trying to organize her words before speaking. “So you know that girl from yesterday? That boy was her cousin.”

Sam _shrieked_ , and immediately demanded a minute by minute recreation of everything that had happened at the hospital, down to exact quotes and recreation of facial expressions. Red faced, Lena did as requested and found herself surprised to enjoy a little bit of gushing. It wasn't something she had ever indulged in with past relationships, usually finding it shallow and pointless, but this was something else entirely.

“You _bitch_ , that's why you weren't answering your phone!”

Lena shrugged.

“God, she better be really fuckin' cute or I'm never going to forgive you.”

Lena shrugged again and blushed an even deeper shade of red.

“Oh yuck, you've got it bad, don't you? Well, when are you going to see her again?” Sam flashed her a shit eating grin, and if Lena had to bet she would guess Sam expected her to have bailed out of asking for her number. Which is accurate, because she would have, but luck was on both of their sides tonight.

In a lofty tone feigning indifference, she replied, “Whenever she's free, I suppose. She had me put my number in her phone, _and_ told me to get you in contact with the owner of the Supers. He saw your race and _apparently_ wants to chat.”

After that Lena forced Sam to pull over into a Walmart parking lot after she nearly swerved off the road _and then_ into oncoming traffic. Her friend had yanked her out of the car and spun her until Lena thought she was going to puke, screaming in her ear all the while. Lena couldn't help but laugh, and the rest of the way home Sam rambled about a million things Lena definitely didn't understand, but she promised herself she would start some in depth research the next day.

To help better support her friend, she told herself. Certainly not to find out if the Supers had videos of their riders on YouTube.

  
  


\- - - - - - - - - -

  
  


Monday found Lena back at work. Her weekend had been a brief step away from reality, but it all came crashing back in around her when her alarm began blaring at six. Her casual clothes were exchanged for business attire, a royal blue knee length skirt and a blazer with a white button up beneath. Sharp, elegant, and as she rode the private elevator up to Luther Corp's top floors she found the distance between yesterday and today grow even further.

By the time the doors slid open before her, she was less Lena and more Luthor than she had felt in a long time, perhaps only because the contrast between the two was so glaringly obvious at the moment. She found a stack of papers already sitting on her desk and a drove of emails awaiting her replies. Jess, the world's best secretary in Lena's professional opinion, had a coffee waiting for her as well.

“You have a meeting at ten, another at one, and Mr. Tsukaido is in from Japan and has requested a brief meeting today at two to head off this week's conversations about the new plant opening.” Jess went down the list, ticking off objectives as she read through them. “Will you be needing anything else at the moment?”

Lena smiled and thanked her, but no, she was all set.

Throughout the morning Lena was keenly aware of her phone tucked away in the depths of her purse. She refused to check it, and reminded herself of that refusal six times separate before fishing it out for a quick peek just before her appointment at ten. No texts, no calls, just twenty-seven new emails that had populated since coming into the office three hours prior. Lena rubbed her eyes and told herself she was being silly. Kara would text her eventually. Or not. And either was fine.

She found herself attempting to rush through her meetings, doing her best to rein in a short temper when faced with wrinkled men in their pristine suits, who clearly believed she had never even seen a blueprint let alone drawn up those they were reviewing herself. It was something she had grown accustomed to within the first months following her promotion, but it hadn't necessarily gotten any easier.

She assumed at first that it had something to do with Lex being charged with fraud, embezzlement, and attempted murder, but she had come to realize it had less to do with her brother's misdeeds and more to do with her lack of Y-chromosome. Stalking out of her one-o-clock meeting with the head of finance had left her in a foul mood especially, after having been told that they could not allocate her more funding until she proved her latest prototype could serve the market in the way she had intended. Lena could only wonder what it was about a breathalyzer-based cancer testing unit that _wouldn't_ make a splash the market, but short of wringing their necks and offering her two weeks there wasn't much she could do.

When she returned to her desk and reached for her phone, she had meant to call Sam and vent off her frustration in the fifteen minutes remaining until she would be called upon again, but a missed call and three quick texts quickly erased the past forty five minutes from her mind entirely.

  
  


**Unknown Contact – 1:26 PM**

hey lena, hope you made it home okay!

I was lowkey freaking out that I hadn't

heard from you til alex reminded me that

you didn't have my number lol

  
  


**Unknown Contact – 1:32 PM**

this is kara danvers btw!

  
  


_**Missed call from Unknown** _

  
  


**Unknown Contact – 1:38 PM**

Oops youre probably working like a

normal person. Anyways, call or text me

when you get these, we'll set that meeting

up with j'onn!

  
  


Jess came in to notify her of Mr. Tsukaido's arrival and found Lena grinning at her phone like a loon. Her secretary gave her a look of confusion tempered by professionalism, and didn't even laugh with Lena fumbled with her phone in her surprise. Lena told Jess to send him in, and tucked her phone away with a small smile. She reflected as she was leaving work that the second half of her day was going much better indeed, and texted Kara back on her way out.

  
  


**Lena – 6:32 PM**

Hey Kara! Yes, I was at work but I'm heading

home now. Not dead! Although Sam did her

best to swerve us into traffic when I told her

of J'onn's offer. She would love to meet up at

his earliest convenience.

  
  


**Kara Danvers – 6:35 PM**

oh god you text like an english teacher lol.

Thats great tho! Im super excited, are you guys

busy tonight? The crew is grabbing drinks at a

dive in town where we all hang, wanna join?

  
  


Lena froze in the middle of the hallway. People bustled around her and some even huffed until they realized who it was that blocked their path. Those quickly averted their gaze and scurried away, but Lena paid them no mind. She smiled.

  
  


**Lena – 6:37 PM**

Sounds great. Send me the address?

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look all I can say is bear with me and be nice to Alex, she didn't mean it. As always I love each and every one of you, and enjoy!

Lena was _almost_ freaking out. Almost. Not quite, but only because a Luthor does not panic. After a brief but loud phone call with Sam they had decided to meet Kara and her 'crew' at eight at a place called Noonan's. Lena had never heard of it but given that Kara was all to quick to label it a dive Lena wasn't entirely surprised. It was one thing to act like a normal twenty something while hours away from National City where people were less likely to recognize her, and another entirely to willingly enter a subpar establishment on her home turf. She envisioned the tabloids already stationed there waiting for her as if they would somehow know, but she pushed that thought away.

With a frustrated sigh she pulled out her phone and angrily punched in the only number she knew by heart for the fifth time that evening.

“Lena, I swear to _god_ -”

“Please, Sam.”

There was a pause, and then a sigh. “I'll be there in fifteen, lay out your top three choices. But you better call one of your swanky ass rich people cars to drop us off, _and_ drive us back. I'm drinking on your dime tonight.”

Lena laughed, breathy with relief. “You're the best.”

“It's only because I pity you and your inability to function like a normal human. That, and you're just going to keep calling me otherwise, so I might as well. I'll be there soon.” The line went dead.

Lena flopped down onto her bed, staring up at her ceiling and forcing herself to breathe. This was absolutely ridiculous. She had no reason to be losing her head over drinks at a bar, no matter who was going to be in attendance. She had dined with politicians, ambassadors, dignitaries, even royalty, but that was _easy_. Most often she found their company boring but tolerable given that there was typically a large business transaction hanging over their heads. That pressure was comfortable and familiar.

This was a new beast she hadn't encountered before.

Instead of calm indifference and the confidence that she would be perfectly capable of making the impression required, Lena actively liked these people (okay, this 'person,') and had no idea what kind of impression she would make. She thought back to Alex's distant and distrusting look in the hospital room and shivered. Caring about the opinions of 'commoners,' as Lillian would call them, was new to Lena. Not entirely unwelcome, but certainly new.

She continued rifling through her closet until her doorbell buzzed. Lena certainly did _not_ dart to the mic beside her door, and certainly did _not_ sag with relief when the doorman notified her that Sam had arrived. She told him to send her up directly, and leaned against her kitchen island until she heard Sam's signature knock rapping against her door.

Her friend looked far more put together than Lena felt. Her wavy brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun. She wore a simple grey v-neck and several dangling necklaces beneath a fitted leather jacket, dark wash jeans sporting a few tasteful tears and black Doc Martins. Lena practically fell into her arms.

Sam laughed and gave her a hearty pat on the back. “You know, it's actually refreshing to see you like this.”

“Like what?” Lena asked with a frown. Was there no solidarity left in the world?

“Like an actual twenty-one year old girl. All these years I've known you it's been like being friends with a forty year old instead. I might need to document this for science.”

“Shut up and help me pick out an outfit, please?”

Sam laughed and let Lena lead her back to her bedroom. Sam sighed and shook her head when she saw the outfits Lena was considering, and with a quick comment about how much Lena really did need her help, Sam ducked into her closet herself. A few options were flung out onto the floor and Lena was quick to scoop them up and make room on the bed.

After minimal bickering about the pros and cons of 'fitting in' versus 'making a good impression' (“Lena, Bottega Veneta is not going to impress a bunch of skater punks,”) they decided on something simple. A gray button up, who's price tag was stupidly high for the purpose it would serve in Sam's opinion, was left open over a light green patterned tank top Lena usually reserved for pajamas. Sam forced her into a pair of yoga leggings and ankle high grey suede boots. Sam tossed her one of her chunky watches with a leather band and black face (“Trust me, it'll ping the gaydar,”) and Lena called the car.

She fidgeted the whole ride over, which left both of them lamenting the lack of a pre-drinks drink, and Sam made a mental note to sneak a flask in with her the next time they went out. Because there _would_ be a next time, if she had anything to say about it. Lena marveled that Sam was so calm about going to meet a potential sponsor, but according to her friend it was obviously Lena who had the most on the line.

“Look, again, I have never seen you act this way. Even including the one time you dragged me to that aerospace engineering conference. Just promise me you won't ask for anyones autographs this time.”

Lena huffed, but did not dignify that with a response. Not that she would admit it, but she had in fact watched some of Kara's races on YouTube and if she did want an autograph it was only because the other woman deserved it.

Their Bentley looked ridiculously out of place as it pulled up outside of a small building wedged between two others. The shopfront proudly proclaimed it as 'Noonan's Food & Pub.' The sign looked hand painted, if the flecks of missing paint were anything to judge by. Lena Luthor, who definitely did not panic, could admit to feeling the tiniest bit nervous. Sam must have known this because she gave Lena's hand a gentle squeeze before dragging them both out onto the sidewalk.

Lena let the taller woman lead them into the bar, slightly surprised to find it bustling with activity. Her idea of a dive was a dingy, dirty and mostly deserted space with one or two men in need of a shave slumped over the bar. This one didn't have more than a couple tables to spare. Two pool tables sat tucked into the back corner and music spilled from a jukebox near the far wall. The bartender looked up and gave them a quick smile before returning to his work.

“Lena! Hey!”

Lena's head whipped sideways at the sound of her name, and her mouth dried out. Kara wore a simple black tank with the word 'Vans' scrawled over the chest in an curvy font. Her jeans were simple and dark, and she wore beat up sneakers. A gray snapback turned backwards kept her golden curls mostly in check and her _glasses_. Oh. Goodness. Lena must have been staring because Sam elbowed her in the ribs.

“Kara, there you are.” She said as her brain kickstarted back into gear. She smiled. “Do you guys have a table?”

In her defense, Kara seemed equally affected. Perhaps Lena was imagining things, but the blonde froze upon fully laying eyes upon her, her gaze sweeping languidly from Lena's face down to her shoes, and then up again. A faint color rose into her cheeks. Kara shook herself and pointed. “Back there. Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone. And you must be Sam?” Lena watched something flicker in the blonde's eyes but she couldn't name it.

“Guilty as charged. Nice to put a face to the name of the person who stole my travel buddy.”

It was Lena's turn to elbow Sam, but Kara just laughed it off as she wove through the crowd. “That's me. Sorry about all that, by the way. She's good company.” Kara turned to look back over her shoulder and sent Lena a quick wink. Lena's cheeks flooded with heat and prayed Kara couldn't see in the dim lighting.

Sam laughed again, louder this time, and Lena was fairly certain she was laughing entirely at her expense. “Well I can't fault you for good taste.”

They found a full table waiting for them in the back corner nearest to the pool tables. Lena immediately recognized Winn who began waving frantically as soon as he noticed her. She gave him a small wave in return, smiling then at James and entirely surprised to find Barry and Iris sitting at the table as well.

“Lena! Sam! I didn't know you guys were the mystery strangers Kara hasn't been able to shut up about,” Barry crowed. It was Kara's turn to blush and she looked between them, obviously confused.

“You guys know each other already?”

Lena smiled and laughed as a miniscule amount of tension began to melt from her shoulders. “They were kind enough to share their campsite with us this past weekend, and Winn and I talked engineering while James and Sam talked physics.” She and Kara shared a bemused look.

“I'm starting to think someone really is conspiring against us,” Kara said, nose crinkling with mirth. “It's getting creepy.”

Lena looked back to the table and asked, “You guys race with the Supers too?”

Iris laughed and shook her head. “No, we just hang with these losers. Oliver too, but he's working tonight. We're too casual for the professional life. Though I have to ask, the girl you mentioned that night around the fire-”

“So where's Alex?” Lena asked in a rush, heading her off. Iris's eyes shone with something that looked like victory but she didn't press. Lena made a note to buy her a drink later.

Kara must have been oblivious to the whole exchange because she just pointed towards a group playing pool. “She's over there with Sara, hustling pool.”

Lena looked over to see two very frustrated frat boys sending daggers at Kara's sister and friend as Sara lined up a shot and sank two balls. One of the guys swore and stalked off while his friend fished out a wallet. Both appeared pissed and miserable. Lena grinned. Alex must have felt her gaze because she caught her gaze and winked. Lena gave her a small wave.

Kara pulled out two seats next to her own. Lena hesitated, waiting to see which chair Sam would go for, but her friend took her by the shoulders and pushed her down next to the blonde. Iris' eyes glinted from across the table. “J'onn will be here soon, I think,” Kara explained. “Caught in traffic.”

“It's a special occasion,” Iris said with a smile. “We can rarely convince the Dad Friend to ever do anything fun with us so we're planning on making the most of it.”

Kara laughed and rolled her eyes. “Well he is like forty or something, can you really blame him?”

Sam snickered and nudged Lena, “You and him should get on too, then.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Lena asked with mock offense, even though she knew perfectly well that Sam was insinuating that she was boring. Which, in her defense, she usually was. “I swear, I take you to _one_ science convention and suddenly I'm the most boring person you know.”

Sam rolled her eyes but Winn's lit up. “Which conference was this?”

Lena gave him a genuine smile, which was only bolstered by Sam's groan of, “God, here we go.”

“The International Summit for Sustainable Energies,” Lena grinned. She turned to swat at Sam's arm. “I took you to Orlando, didn't I? We even went to Disney!”

Sam might have said something, but Winn launched into some sort of fangirl episode which captured Lena's attention entirely so she didn't pay any mind to her friend's griping. Kara watched the exchange with amusement, although she seemed to be getting about as much out of their conversation as the others at the table. Most of the words leaving their mouths seemed to stretch beyond four syllables, but even that was difficult to understand given how fast they were talking.

No one seemed willing or able to interrupt them until Alex and Sam returned and slammed a wad of cash down on the table, effectively cutting Winn off mid sentence. “Who wants another round? Paid for by the fuckboys, of course.”

She was met with a chorus of approval, and both Alex and Sara melted back into the crowd with the table's order. Lena noticed Sam crane her head to watch her leave. In an innocent tone, one which Lena could easily interpret as entirely less-than-innocent, Sam asked, “You said her name was Alex, right?”

Kara nodded, reaching for her beer. “Yup! My older sister.”

“Your older sister is hot.”

Kara spluttered around the sip she had just taken, and Lena gave Sam a scandalized look even as the rest of the table burst out laughing. “Ew,” Kara said, sounding truly horrified.

Lena smacked Sam's arm and earned herself a glare for it. “What! I have eyes, don't I? I'm only speaking the truth!”

Lena buried her face in her hands.

Alex and Sara returned in a few moments with their drinks, and Lena resisted making wiggly-brows at Sam as soon as her friend launched into conversation with Kara's sister. Eventually the conversation came back around to Lena, much to her displeasure. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable talking about herself, but something about this group of people exerted an energy unlike anything she encountered in her professional life and it was safe to say that social obligation and niceties weren't really her strongest suit.

“So Lena,” Alex said, after taking a long sip from her beer. “Winn was asking me earlier about your side of that whole incident with Clark. Care to recount?”

In a weak attempt to deflect, Lena swirled her own drink. “Well, all of you except Kara and Winn were there, you didn't fill them in?”

Alex rolled her eyes, seeing her statement for what it was. “Not the same thing. And I'll admit to being curious too. There were loads of people in that crowd, why were you the one that hopped the fence?”

Kara stiffened next to her. Sensing an argument brewing, Lena was quick to head the younger Danvers off. She laid a hand on Kara's arm, which certainly wasn't missed by Alex either. “Well, like I told you in the ambulance ride, I was an EMT for a few years. I guess a part of it was the training kicking in, but to be honest? Sam and I saw Clark's qualifying race too, even though we didn't know who he was either time. He won, so I had my eye on him the second go around, too. I knew it was a bad fall when I saw it. Frankly, I didn't even really know what I was going to do until I was there doing it.”

Alex gave her a level stare. Lena got the impression that she wasn't an easy woman to impress. “Good instincts.”

Lena returned the cool gaze, never one to back down from a challenge. “Thank you.”

“We really are grateful for it, despite what Alex's words and actions would lead one to think.” Kara's voice breaking into their staring match made Lena jump. She looked sideways to find the blonde giving her sister a similar icy look, and she got the impression the two were having a silent sort of sibling conversation. She and Lex had done the same before... Well. Before.

“Right, of course,” Alex said as if it were an after thought. When Kara's eyes narrowed into a glare, she went on. “We are! I just... I don't know. I just don't get it.”

“What's not to get? I saw a child in need of help, so I helped him.”

Alex laughed, but it didn't exactly sound kind. Lena felt a kernel of anger begin to fester in her belly. “I mean, if it was anyone else it'd be easier to believe. Seems a little farfetched to me, given the circumstances.” By the way Alex stilled Lena could guess she hadn't really meant to say the words which had just left her mouth.

The women on either side of her stiffened. Sam had always been Lena's staunch protector, from grade school on. It was expected, and Lena was grateful for it, not that she had ever required someone else to fight her battles for her. She was surprised to see the same from Kara, though. "The circumstance of my last name, you mean?"

“Alex,” Kara led off, tone dangerously low.

“It's okay,” Lena said quietly. Sam leaned back into her chair but Kara did not. Lena went on, sitting up straight in her own right and resting her forearms on the table top. She understood people have reservations about dealing with her family, given their prodigious reputation. Her mother, father, and brother had never shied away from leaving a mark whether it was positive or negative, and there weren't many in National City who hadn't been impacted by the Luthors in some way. Their deals made and destroyed the income of hundreds of small businesses. Their name was slapped on rental agreements, and their lawyers were ever vigilant in pursuing cases in slander and libel. Shady government deals, funding for questionable legislation, the scandal of mistresses and affairs. Lex's attempted genocide. There was no shortage of marks against them.

Lena also understood protective siblings.

She had still been in elementary school when she realized that the weight of her last name would follow her wherever she went, going home with bloody noses and scraped knees. It was something she would need to learn how to fight against, if she ever wanted to change that perception. She leaned forward, shedding whatever vestige of the carefree woman of the past weekend remained. She got the sense that Winn, Barry, Iris and Sara desperately wished to be anywhere else.

“Let me make something very clear to you.” The air around them chilled. “I maintain no delusions about my family. Feel free to question their motives and actions all you like, frankly I don't care. You and I will likely be in agreement in most of those areas. My mother is a terrible person. My brother and father _were_ terrible people. If you think I'm going to defend any of them you're incorrect.”

Lena didn't realize she had stood from her chair to lean in towards Alex, who seemed glued to where she sat.

“But I will not stand to have my _own_ motives and actions questioned when you don't know the first thing about me, other than the fact that I saved your cousin from bleeding out on the pavement without having even the slightest _fucking_ clue who he was. I have dedicated my life to the pursuit of human innovation and global health. I turned down the position of CEO of Luther Corp because I knew the board's corruption would force my hand in ways I did not condone. I have had hundreds of my proposals turned down because their benefit to society was not beneficial enough to our stockholders.

“I challenge you to find a single biomedical breakthrough in the past five years that does not have one of my patents involved somewhere in the making. My mother refuses to speak to me because I will not further the family business of hatred and gluttony. My brother was _executed_ for his crimes because I testified against him in court.”

Lena's jaw clenched.

“If you want to question me _privately_ , that is your right. God knows everyone else does. But if you want to do it to my face, do your research first.”

Her chair clattered backwards as she pushed away from the table. She heard both Kara and Sam calling out to her as she fled, but all Lena cared about was making it to the door.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I mean, go off I guess.


End file.
